“Those in multisensory environments always do better than those in unisensory environments. They have more recall with better resolution that lasts longer, evident even 20 years later.”
- John Medina, author Brain Rules
In this paper we describe our experience of implementing mediabased discussion in an online course to promote scholarly engagement, and to demonstrate the use of VoiceThread (2014), proprietary software for implementing media-based discussion
“I first heard about VoiceThread from the Coordinator of our Center for Excellence in Teaching. I had a problem that needed a solution and it seemed to me that VoiceThread was that answer.”
“You know what would be wonderful? If there was some type of tool where you could post a picture and have the students interact with the picture, talk to each other and comment”
“I feel very strongly that parents are important stakeholders, so we want them to have opportunities to connect with their children’s learning. VoiceThread is one of the ways we facilitate this connection.”
VoiceThread holds potential to provide students who rarely speak in class a means to create visually-based digital conversations. In light of this, pedagogical affordances of the tool are considered, along with efficacy behind VoiceThread development within English as a Foreign Language contexts. Instructional strategies, supported by examples, are presented. A means for in-service teachers to evaluate language production and learning outcomes emerge, along with techniques essential for monitoring, producing, and guiding effective VoiceThread development through inclusion of specifically developed resources.
This paper provides a glimpse into the use of interactive dialogue to increase and improve interactivity among interpreter education students via VoiceThread. The focus of the paper is primarily drawn from experiences in the education of signed language interpreting students, however, it is also relevant to spoken language interpreting students. While this article aims to explore the use of VoiceThread (also known as MyThread) as a dynamic digital tool to enhance dialogue, the concepts highlighted go beyond tools to demonstrate how improved connectivity and dialogue can serve as a strong foundation for community building in eLearning environments. Both theory and application of the ways in which dynamic dialogue can be integrated will be addressed throughout the paper. Exemplars are provided to guide educators through use and implementation of VoiceThread to improve dialogue in the classroom.
Through employment of asynchronous voice tools, EFL speaking practice can be moved into the XXIst century with potential benefits for students. The current paper will show that opening the classroom walls to a world audience through employment ofWeb 2.0 tools, higher expectations are engendered in students than in the in vitro class environment. Since students prepare with a real audience in mind, their motivation and subsequently their performance are expected to improve. This is extremely important and crucial especially in the case of adult students who learn the language in an artificial class environment, with poor prospects of practicing it in a real environment. We will discuss the students’ opinions on advantages of employing Voxopop (VoP) and Voice Thread (VT) in an effort to raise the EFL teachers’ awareness about the warmer teaching-learning experience asynchronous voice tools foster and the multiplicity of avenues they open.
Colleges and universities are now part of an ecosystem that includes educational technology companies. As more faculty adopt Web 2.0 technologies, institutions ofhigher education must seek sustainable methods to support faculty and this mayinvolve collaborations with ecosystem partners. The purpose of this action research study was to improve the support resources provided by the VoiceThread organization, a Web 2.0 tool provider, to its higher education users. This study was guided by three questions: a) is there a significant difference in faculty perceptions about the pedagogical benefits of VoiceThread between faculty who examine VoiceThread in an eBook and faculty who examine VoiceThread through a webinar; b) how can an eBook be designed to support the diverse needs of 21st century faculty; and c) what are the support needs of faculty who teach with VoiceThread?
Audio/video discussion has been used increasingly in online courses due to its affordances in enhancing online communication. However, whether learners of different characteristics can benefit from this discussion modality has not been investigated extensively. This study examined whether gender plays a role in learners’ preferences and perceptions of audio/video discussion as compared to text discussion. The survey data of thirty-six participants’ perceptions were collected and studied after they participated in an audio/video discussion activity. The findings show that females preferred audio/video discussion more than males did, and more females reported that audio/video discussion strengthened their connection with peers. The top three benefits of audio/video discussion perceived by females and males are presented in this paper. Overall, using audio/video discussion to augment online communication and to connect learners is likely to be more effective and perceived more positively by female students than male students. The findings in this study could provide implications for sound pedagogical decisions that satisfy student preferences.
The purpose of this action research was to assess the pedagogical value of the software program VoiceThread (VT) as compared to classroom discussions in developing and enhancing student production of the Present Subjunctive at the Intermediate level of Spanish language courses.